At Ripon on Tuesday evening trainer Ruth Carr was unable to win the race run in memory of her grandfather David Chapman but she did have family related success at Pontefract’s meeting the following day.
The Chaplins Club Handicap Stakes is a race run to remember a horse owned by Peter Savill. Chaplins Club was trained by Chapman and won 12 races (1988-1992), including two at Pontefract. This year the race was won by Carr’s gelding Chosen One (8/1).
In the parade ring at Pontefract
Jockey James Sullivan notched up a 152/1 double with Chosen One and then Fazza (16/1) in the veterans handicap.
The meeting was an awful one for favourite backers, as not a single market leader won a race on the card. The SPs for the seven race winners were: 8/1, 6/1, 12/1, 6/1, 8/1, 16/1, and 7/1.
In the three-runner Big Fellas Nightclub Handicap Stakes the racing adage of backing the outsider of the three was proved right again as Micky Hammond’s Correggio (12/1) trounced his rivals Buchanan (5/4) and Leitrim Pass (4/5f) by five lengths and 17 lengths respectively.
Correggio’s win was the first part of a 90/1 double for jockey Franny Norton, who followed up with Kiama Bay (6/1) for Richard Fahey in the 1m4f handicap.
There was a big crowd with a lively atmosphere for ladies’ day. The big screen is essential as viewing is not easy when horses are hidden behind the trees on the far side of the course. But you do get a good view of the short home straight from the grandstands and the horses walk through the middle of the premier enclosure to get out onto the track so you don’t even have to leave the bar to get a close look at your selection.
Pontefract's busy betting ring
